Uber highlights autonomous vehicle efforts now that Tesla’s in its rearview mirror

Uber reported strong second-quarter results, with gross bookings and net profit both up decently. But the company has chosen to highlight the success of its autonomous vehicle effort, likely to assuage investors concerned about incoming competition from Tesla, which aims to reveal its first robotax

Lucid pumps $1.5B from Saudi wealth fund after CEO warned relying on its ‘bottomless wealth’ was ‘dangerous’

Saudi Arabia is committing even more money to Lucid Motors as the EV startup struggles to erase its losses. Lucid announced Monday as part of its second-quarter earnings report that an affiliate of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund is committing another $1.5 billion, with half coming in the form of a

Anthony Levandowski bets on off-road autonomy, Nuro plots a comeback and Applied Intuition gets more investor love

Welcome back to technewss Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click technewss Mobility! Summer road trip season is upon us, so when Google announced some updates to Google Maps, we got excited. Surely this would incl

Google Maps announces new features and somehow none of them are ‘pause navigation’

Look, we’ve all been there. You’re on a road trip and you pull off the highway for some food or fuel. And then Google Maps starts (rudely) yelling at you to get back on the road. The company has all the money and AI chips in the world and yet the app can’t just chill when you need

Sennder buys CH Robinson’s European business

German freight forwarding unicorn Sennder is on a roll. The company said on Tuesday that it is acquiring the European ground transportation assets of logistics giant C.H. Robinson in an all-cash deal. It did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but a source close to the company told TechCr

The question haunting Fisker’s bankruptcy

As failed EV startup Fisker winds its way through bankruptcy, a persistent and tricky question has become a flashpoint of the proceedings: does its only secured lender, Heights Capital Management, deserve to be at the front of the line to reap the proceeds of a liquidation?  Heights has maintaine

Uber now lets users in India book three trips at once

Uber is rolling out concurrent rides in India, a feature that allows users to book up to three trips for any of their contacts, technewss has exclusively learned and confirmed with the company. The concurrent rides feature is the latest example of Uber developing products that will capture more c

India’s Rapido becomes a unicorn with fresh $120M funding

Bike-taxi startup Rapido is the latest Indian startup to become a unicorn, meaning it reached $1 billion in valuation. The 8-year-old firm has raised $120 million in a new funding round led by WestBridge Capital, according to a regulatory filing. The new capital, a Series E infusion, underscores R

US border agents must get warrant before cell phone searches, federal court rules

A federal district court in New York has ruled that U.S. border agents must obtain a warrant before searching the electronic devices of Americans and international travelers crossing the U.S. border. The ruling on July 24 is the latest court opinion to upend the U.S. government’s long-standi

UK’s Zapp EV plans to expand globally with an early start in India

Zapp Electric Vehicles wants to turn its London-based electric two-wheeler brand into a global EV company. And India will be one of its launchpads, technewss has exclusively learned. The company will launch its first product — an urban electric two-wheeler called the i300 — in the U.K. as ear

Applied Intuition closes $300M secondary four months after raising $250M

Autonomous vehicle software startup Applied Intuition has closed a $300 million secondary sale just four months after raising a $250 million Series E round, yet another sign of how white-hot the investment scene is for artificial intelligence companies. The secondary round adds Fidelity Management

Uber, Lyft, DoorDash can continue to classify drivers as contractors in California

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Proposition 22 — the ballot measure that passed in November 2020 and classified app-based gig workers as independent contractors rather than employees — is here to stay.  The decision is a win for app-based companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash a

Alphabet pours $5B into Waymo, Cruise scraps the Origin and Elon's bet on autonomy

Welcome back to technewss Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click technewss Mobility! I don't know about you, but for me, the past few days have offered up even more evidence that our world is vulnerable to sof

GM-backed Addionics aims to make lithium-ion batteries cheaper with wavy foil

In the lithium-ion battery world, the race to the bottom isn't as ominous as it sounds. Battery manufacturers are under pressure from automakers to lower prices while maintaining or improving performance. They've largely delivered, with battery pack costs dropping from $780 to $139 per kil